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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. W. 86 G. RANDEL. BUTTON HOLE fiEWING MACHINE- Patented Man 25, 1890.

N. PETERs Phumulho ra hnr, Washingtuh. D. c,

AM. a e h s F a e h S 4 L E D N A R D O & W

(No Model.)

BUTTON HOLE SEWING MAGHINE'. No. 424,432.

Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM RANDEL AND CHARLES D. RANDEL, OF TROY, NEWV YORK, AS- SIGNORS TO THE TROY BUTTON HOLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BUTTON-HOLE SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 424,432, dated March 25, 1890. Application filed May 21, 1888. Serial No. 274,476. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.

Be it known that we, WVILLIAM RANDEL and CHARLES D. RANDEL, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Hole Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the acro companying drawings. This invention relates to certain improvements in button-hole sewing-machines; and it is designed to provide improved mechanism for giving the cloth the proper longitudir5 nal and transverse movement under the needle to form the over-edging stitch, as more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a top view of the bed-plate of a sewing-machine with the arm thereof broken away, showing our improvement. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the bed-plate of the machine, taken on line m as of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a longit-udinal sectional view taken on the line y yof Fig. 1. Fig. 5 represents a perspective view of the base-plate of the button-holeworking mechanism detached. Fig. 6 is a detached perspective view of the reciprocating plate which operates in connection with other mechanisms to give the longitudinal motion to the teed-bar of the machine. Fig. 7 represent-s a perspective view of a recipro- 3 5 cating plate which gives, in connection with other parts, the transverse motion to the feed-bar. Fig. 8 represents a bottom view of a portion of the machine, showing a portion of the mechanism for starting and stopping the same and operating the button-hole-cutting device. Fig. 9 represents a front elevation of the head of the needle-bar arm with the front plate thereof removed, showing the mechanism for elevating the cutter-bar and 4,5 a portion of the mechanism for dropping the same. Fig. 10 represents detached perspective views of the two levers which operate the reciprocatingplates. Fig. 11 represents a perspective view of the under side of the feedcam forming a part of the feed mechanism of the machine. Fig. 12 represents a detached perspective view of a clutchlever which operates said feedcam to transmit the reciprocating longitudinal movement to the feedbar. Fig. 13 represents a detached. view of an adjustable plate, by means of which the throw of the clutch-lever may be regulated to vary the space between the over-edging stitches of the button-hole. Fig. 14 represents a side elevation of the machine with portions removed, so as to show the mechanism for operating the feed devices, for start ing and stopping the machine, and for operating the button-hole cutting mechanism. Fig. 15 is a perspective View of the connecting-block uniting the plates O and D. Fig. 16 is a perspective view of the lever connecting the middle plate to the operating-cam. Fig. 17 is a vertical section of a modified form of cloth supporting and clamp foot to permit said cloth-supporting plate and its bearing-lips to be revolved end for end after one-half of a button-hole has been completed. Fig. 18 is a plan of the same. Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the cloth-clamp.

The letter A indicates the base-plate, which carries the various parts of the feed mechanism, and is secured at o to the platform 2 of a sewing-machine. The said plate is provided with large bearings having wearing- 8o gibs 13, between which the reciprocating plate 0 moves longitudinallygthe said gibsbeing adjustable, so as to take up the wear of the plate in order that it may be made to work accurately at all times. Below said plate 0 is a reciprocating plate D, which is arranged to slide on ways E on the upper face of the base-plateA and between ways f on the lower side of the plate 0.

The letters F and G indicate two levers ar- 0 ranged one above the other and provided with longitudinal slots, having a movable clamping-nut and bolt H, by means of which they may be clamped together at different points. The adjustment of the upper lever on the lower lever is to change the length of the reciprocation of the lower reciprocating plate. When the screw is at the end 0, it makes the smaller reciprocation, and when at the end 0' the larger reciprocation. The levers are too longer than usual and are differently fulcrumed, one being fulcrumed to the baseplate A at a and the other to the said baseplate at 19 the fulcrum-pin passing through a cut-away portion of the plate 0 and through a large opening 3 in the plate D, so as not to interfere with its reciprocatingmovement.

The lower plate'D is connected to the lower lever G by means of a clamping-screw D and a nut cl, said screw passing through a lug C on the side of the lever Gand through a slot d in said plate, to which itis clamped, and to permit said lever to oscillate on its pivot b and at the same time guard against loss of motion, the screw D passes through a square washer at, fitting laterally but not longitudinally in a slot in said lug C The lower reciprocating plate D is provided with a transverse aperture I, in which is adapted to move the downwardly-bent portion of a longitudinally-slotted lever K, which is pivoted at L to said lower reciprocating plate. Through the slot in said lever passes the lower section of a double block M, the upper section of which passes through a slot 11 in the reciprocating plate 0. The head of the screw N, uniting the sections of the block M, is received in a large opening 5 in the base-plate A, so as not to interfere with the play of the reciprocating plates. The block M is made of two sections, connected together by the clamping-screw N, to permit the lower section to have a slight rotary motion produced by the oscillating lever K, independently of the reciprocating motion given thereto by the plate C as they move together, and the head of the upper block M has a slotted wing P, through which passes a binding-screw R, for the adjustment of the space between the two rows of stitches. When said 'block is pulled toward the operator, it increases the space between said rows, and vice versa, the reason being that when the machine is turning the end of the button-hole the block carrying the screw R acts as a fulcrum and moves the under plate D more or less, according to the position of the screw in the slot.

The movable or near end of the lever K carries a pin and friction-roller S, which Works freely through a radial slot 6 in a clutch-lever T, fulcrumed on a boss U, secured to the upper face of the plate D. The near end of the transverse lever K and the boss U extends through an opening 7 in the plate 0 and plays freely therein.

Upon the upper end. of the boss U is mounted loosely a circular feed cam or disk Y, its lower face bearing against the upper face of the clutch-lever T, before mentioned. The lower face of the feed-disk is provided with a camgroove V, which sets over the pin and roller S, said roller playing in the cam, while the latter revolves when the mechanism is in operation. When the pin is at the end 11 of the cam, the needle reaches the farthest end of the button-hole or to the point opposite the starting end in position to be acted upon, and

step movement in one direction,

'sists the clutch-lever in its action.

which confine the edge of the disk. The said blocks have beveled recesses, within which are placed spring-actuated rollers Z, which bear against the periphery of the said feeddisk when the clutch-lever is worked in one direction, and, retreating toward the widest part of the recesses, slip their bearing when traveling in the othcrdirection,a11d they advance the said disk by a clutching step-bypose of giving the feed-bar its proper longitudinal movement, as will be more fully hereinafter explained.

The plate D has projecting from its surface a stud, to which is secured a block X, having a beveled recess, into which is also located a bearingroller which bears continuously against the periphery of the feed-disk, and, preventing the back rotation of said disk, as-

The end of the clutch-lever farthest from its fulcrum has pivoted to it at S aplate A, provided with a slot g. through which passes a clampingscrew B, by means of which it may be adjusted for the purpose of regulating the throw of the clutch-lever, and through said lever and intermediate mechanism, hereinafter de scribed, regulating the distance between the over-edging stitches at the edges of the button-hole. The said plate has also a slotG', through which passes a screw D havinga friction-roller. This screw is secured to the end of the lever F at f, whereby motion'is imparted to the clutclrlever. When the screw D is at the end I), there is no feed; but when at the end I? it will make large spaces between the stitches.

The feed-disk is connected by meansof a pivoted link E with the slotted end of a lever F, fulcrumed at 10 to the reciprocating plate 0, the link having at that end a clamping block and screw G, whereby it may be clamped at any position in the slot of the lever F in order to change the length between the stitches by modifying the movement of the feed-slide. The forward endof the lever F is provided with a straight rack G which intergears with a segmental rack h on the reciprocating slide H which moves in a slot 12 between transverse ways at the front edge of the sliding plate 0.

' It will be observed that when the clamping block and screw G are at the point d of the slotted lever F the said lever will be moved but slightly, and consequently the feed-bar will not be operated but when at the point (1 the said lever will be operated to its full extent, and thereby the length of the buttonhole will be regulated. hen the clampingfor the pur- IZO screw is at d, the smaller button-hole is made,

and when at d the-larger.

The bottom cloth-clamp foot I has above it two independent lips K L united by a screw 2'. The lip L is received in a slot of the lip K and both lips are elevated together by a spring M having one end fastened to the clamp-slide and the other pressing against the under side of the inner lip L Both lips are held in position by the eccentric-rod N The outer lip is pivoted at is to the clothclamp slide H The inner one is secured to the under side of the outer lip far enough from its cloth-clamping edge to permit each one to spring and press evenly on different thicknesses of material. The cloth-clamp foot-plate I extends back of the clamp-slide, and thereby obtains a bearing against the bottom of the base-plate, and slides ,under the same.

To permit the cloth-bearing plate I to be revolved end for end, so as to produce button-holes having their inner edges closer than heretofore, and consequently of better appearance, said plate is formed, as shown in Figs. 17 and 18, of two thicknesses 1 1 united, preferably, by screws '5 each plate having an oblong hole, the ends of which are equidistant from their center. The bottom plate I is circular andis received in a circular opening in the cloth-clamp foot-plate 1 The top of the peripheral edged of the bottom plate I is recessed, so that the inneredge of the circular opening in the plate 1 becomes clamped between the parts l 1 but not enough to prevent the rotationof said parts of the plate relatively. to the plate 1 To look the plates I l together,with either end toward the operating mechanism, there is attached to the bottom of said plate I a flat spring-latch i having one end secured thereto at i while the opposite end i projects beyond the side of the plate 1 and can be pressed down to release its locking-pin i from one of the holes 7? located at diagonal corners of two oppositely-extended arms of the plate 1". This plate carries the supports n for the hand-lever n that has the eccentric pivot N through which the independent lips K L of the clamping-foot are pressed down. The upper end of the plate 10 is secured to a block Z that is pivoted at Z to the supports M, and a coiled spring Z under said block forces one edge of said block up, when its plate L is released by the eccentric N By revolving the cloth-bearing plate 1'. I a button-hole of better appearance is produced,'because the pearl of the stitching of the two sides of the button-hole will be close to each other and adjacent to the slit; but if the cloth-plates are not revolved after one half of the button-hole is made, the pearl on the second half is on the back of the stitch away from the slit.

To prevent the stitching from being superposed, the location of the material operated upon can be shifted by hand or by revolving the feed-disk Y by means of its handle.

The base-plate A is secured by the screw a to thebed of the sewing-machine in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and motion is imparted to the lever F by means of a horizontal link R, the inn er end of which has a tongue that enters a fork S, which is pivoted to the lower end of an oscillating lever T, which is hollow at its upper end to receive a pin-roller that enters a cam a, which is operated by the gear W, intermeshing with the gear X on the driving-shaft, the latter gear being half the diameter of the first-mentioned. A switch-cam may be used on the main shaft for the same purpose, the switch-cam having two grooves, by means of which the same motion will be obtained.

The feed cam or disk Y has a ring Y fastened thereto or integral therewith. The said ring serves as a track for a roller A and has a notch Z ,into which said friction-roller can drop to automatically arrest the machine,

This roller is on one end of a clutch-lever B fulcrumed to a lug 0 secured to one side of the base-plate A. The opposite end of the said leverB has a pendent armb thatbears against and looks with a spring-retained starting-lever D fulcrumed at 13 to the bed of the machine. The said lever D has a vertical handle d for the operator to press against to start the machine, and is connected by means of a screw-bolt E passing through a segmental slot 14 in said bed, with a toggle-lever F supported under the bed by a pivoted bearing 15. One end of said lever (when the toggle is out straight) presses against an adjustingscrew 16 upon the lower end of a shipper-1e:

ver G fulcrumed to a stud 17 on the rear of the arm of the machine. The upper end of said shipper-lever bears against a button H attached to the center of the driving-pulley 1 which runs loosely on the driving-shaft within a hollow wheel K made fast to the said driving-shaft. The hollow wheel also carries a segmental friction-plate L The shipper-lever is provided with a brake-plate M above its is thrown toward the hollow wheel by the ac-- tion of the spring N The upper end of said arm connects by means of a rod 1? with alever R fulcrumed at 19 near the forward end of the arm of the machine, and the upper end of said lever connects by means of a link S with the lower end of a trip-lever T ful-. crumed to the head of a hollow post U through which the upper end of a verticallymovable rod V works. The lower end of the said rod works in the bearings ordinarily fulcrum, and back of said plate is located al used for the presser-foot bar, which is removed, and at its lower extremity the said rod V carries a detachable cutter W The said rod is provided with a securely-fastened sleeve W against which bears a spiral spring X Thesaid collar is provided with a lateral lug Y which is engaged by a collar Z on the needle-bar of the machine, by means of which the rod V is elevated, and to retain it in this position the said rod is provided with a notch A near its upper end, which is engaged by the upper end of the trip-lever T before mentioned, and held when elevated until the trip-lever is released, which is done when the brake-plate on the shipper-lever is thrown back to stop the machine. The rod V is also provided with a collar B having a lug G which rides between two cam-bearings D having spring-plates d in the front portion of the arm, so as to turn the cutter out of the way of the needle-clamp at the lower end of the needle-bar when the cutter-bar is elevated, and throw the cutter parallel with the line of movement of the cloth when the cutter descends to cut the button-hole.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a button-hole sewing-machine, of the base-plate secured to the bed of the machine, the slotted levers F G, located one under the other and fulcru med at opposite sides of the base-plate, means for vibrating said levers, the adjustable clampingplate A and clutch-lever T, the cloth-clamp and its longitudinal feeding mechanism, the upperand lowerreciprocatin g plates, the lower one being connected with the lower slotted lever, and the feed-disk swiveled to a boss on the lower reciprocating plate, and connections therefrom for operating the feed-disk, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of a sewing-machine frame, its cloth-clamp and operating mechanism, the two reciprocating plates and their operating mechanism, the slotted operatinglevers located one above the other, the clutchlever, the horizontal feed-disk having a camgroove in its lower face, the transverse slotted lever provided with a roller-pin and fulcru med to the lower reciprocating plate, the roller-pin playing in the cam-groove, and the double clamping-blocks W and spring-actuated rollers therein, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a sewing-machine frame, its cloth-clamp and operating mechanism, the upper and lower slotted levers which operate the feed mechanism, the adjustable horizontal link connected at one end to the upper lever and at the other to a vertical lever having a pivoted fork at its lower end, and means, as described, for operating the said vertical lever, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the movable feedslide and cloth-plate, a clamp the upper member of which consists of two separate pressing-feet, the outer foot of the clamp having an oblong slot and the inner foot within said slot, a spring to elevate them, and an eccentric to clamp them, the outer foot being pivoted to the slide and the inner foot attached to the arm of the outer foot, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of the laterally-movable feed-slide and cloth-plate 1 having a circular opening, the plate 1 fitting therein, and top plate 1 secured to the latter, with the clamping-foot pivoted in bearings secured to said plate 1 said plate I having two oppositely-extended arms, and means, substantially as described, for retaining the top plate 1 connected to the cloth-plateP, with either arm toward the cloth-clamp-operating mechanism and with the oblong hole therein, having its ends equidistant from the center of the cloth-plate, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a laterally-movable feed-slide and cloth-plate having a circular opening, the center of which is in a vertical plane passing substantially through the needle of the machine, with a clamping-foot pivoted in bearings to revolve horizontallyaround said needle upon a plate 1 having an oblong hole therein, the ends of which are equidistant from the center of the cloth-plate, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof we affiX our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM RANDEL. CHARLES D. RANDEL. Witnesses:

WM. 0. GEER, WiLLIAM FINDER, Jr. 

